Part 6 Chapter 7

Containing a Very Important Communication.

BETWEEN the unexpected meeting with Captain Armine in the morning and the evening assembly at Bellair House, a communication had been made by Miss Temple to Lord Montfort, which ought not to be quite unnoticed. She had returned home with his mother and himself, and her silence and depression had not escaped him. Soon after their arrival they were left alone, and then Henrietta said, ‘Digby, I wish to speak to you!’

‘My own!’ said Lord Montfort, as he seated himself by her on the sofa, and took her hand.

Miss Temple was calm; but he would have been a light observer who had not detected her suppressed agitation¹.

‘Dearest Digby,’ she continued, ‘you are so generous and so kind, that I ought to feel no reluctance² in speaking to you upon this subject; and yet it pains me very much.’ She hesitated.

‘I can only express my sympathy with any sorrow of yours, Henrietta,’ said Lord Montfort. ‘Speak to me as you always do, with that frankness which so much delights me.’

‘Let your thoughts recur³ to the most painful incident of my life, then,’ said Henrietta.

‘If you require it,’ said Lord Montfort, in a serious tone.

‘It is not my fault, dearest Digby, that a single circumstance connected with that unhappy event should be unknown to you. I wished originally that you should know all. I have a thousand times since regretted that your consideration for my feelings should ever have occasioned an imperfect confidence between us; and something has occurred today which makes me lament⁴ it bitterly.’

‘No, no, dearest Henrietta; you feel too keenly,’ said Lord Montfort.

‘Indeed, Digby, it is so,’ said Henrietta very mournfully.

‘Speak, then, dearest Henrietta.’

‘It is necessary that you should know the name of that person who once exercised an influence over my feelings, which I never affected⁵ to disguise to you.’

‘Is it indeed necessary?’ enquired⁶ Lord Montfort.

‘It is for my happiness,’ replied Henrietta.

‘Then, indeed, I am anxious to learn it.’

‘He is in this country,’ said Henrietta, ‘he is in this town; he may be in the same room with you tomorrow; he has been in the same room with me even this day.’

‘Indeed!’ said Lord Montfort.

‘He bears a name not unknown to you,’ said Henrietta, ‘a name, too, that I must teach myself to mention, and yet———’

Lord Montfort rose and took a pencil and a sheet of paper from the table, ‘Write it,’ he said in a kind tone.

Henrietta took the pencil, and wrote,

‘Armine.’

‘The son of Sir Ratcliffe?’ said Lord Montfort.

‘The same,’ replied Henrietta.

‘You heard then of him last night?’ enquired her companion.

‘Even so; of that, too, I was about to speak.’

‘I am aware of the connection of Mr. Glastonbury with the Armine family,’ said Lord Montfort, quietly.

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There was a dead pause. At length Lord Montfort said, ‘Is there anything you wish me to do?’

‘Much,’ said Henrietta. ‘Dearest Digby,’ she continued, after a moment’s hesitation⁷, ‘do not misinterpret me; my heart, if such a heart be worth possessing, is yours. I can never forget who solaced⁸ me in my misery⁹; I can never forget all your delicate tenderness, Digby. Would that I could make a return to you more worthy¹⁰ of all your goodness; but if the grateful devotion of my life can repay you, you shall be satisfied.’

He took her hand and pressed it to his lips. ‘It is of you, and of your happiness that I can alone think,’ he murmured.

‘Now let me tell you all,’ said Henrietta, with desperate firmness. ‘I have done this person great injustice¹¹.’

‘Hah!’ said Lord Montfort.

‘It cuts me to the heart,’ said Henrietta.

‘You have then misconceived his conduct?’ enquired Lord Montfort.

‘Utterly.’

‘It is indeed a terrible situation for you,’ said Lord Montfort; ‘for all of us,’ he added, in a lower tone.

‘No, Digby; not for all of us; not even for myself; for if you are happy I will be. But for him, yes! I will not conceal¹² it from you, I feel for him.’

‘Your destiny is in your own hands, Henrietta.’

‘No, no, Digby; do not say so,’ exclaimed Miss Temple, very earnestly; ‘do not speak in that tone of sacrifice. There is no need of sacrifice; there shall be none. I will not, I do not falter¹³. Be you firm. Do not desert me in this moment of trial. It is for support I speak; it is for consolation¹⁴. We are bound together by ties the purest, the holiest. Who shall sever¹⁵ them? No! Digby, we will be happy; but I am interested in the destiny of this unhappy person. You, you can assist me in rendering¹⁶ it more serene¹⁷; in making him, perhaps, not less happy than ourselves.’

‘I would spare no labour,’ said Lord Montfort.

‘Oh, that you would not!’ exclaimed Miss Temple. ‘You are so good, so noble! You would sympathise even with him. What other man in your situation would?’

‘What can be done?’

‘Listen: he was engaged to his cousin even on that fatal day when we first met; a lady with every charm and advantage that one would think could make a man happy; young, noble, and beautiful; of a most amiable¹⁸ and generous disposition¹⁹, as her subsequent conduct has proved; and of great wealth.’

‘Miss Grandison?’ said Lord Montfort.

‘Yes: his parents looked forward to their union with delight, not altogether unmixed with anxiety.

The Armines, with all their princely possessions, are greatly embarrassed from the conduct of the last head of their house. Ferdinand himself has, I grieve to say, inherited too much of his grandfather’s imprudent spirit; his affairs, I fear, are terribly involved. When I knew him, papa was, as you are aware, a poor man. This marriage would have cured all; my Digby, I wish it to take place.’

‘How can we effect it?’ asked Lord Montfort.

‘Become his friend, dear Digby. I always think you can do anything. Yes! my only trust is in you. Oh! my Digby, make us all happy.’

Lord Montfort rose and walked up and down the room, apparently²⁰ in profound meditation²¹. At length he said, ‘Rest assured, Henrietta, that to secure your happiness nothing shall ever be wanting on my part. I will see Mr. Glastonbury on this subject. At present, dearest, let us think of lighter²² things.’

1 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

2 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

3 recur   

vi.复发，重现，再发生

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically.经济危机周期性地发生。
• Of course,many problems recur at various periods.当然，有许多问题会在不同的时期反复提出。

4 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 enquired   

打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问

参考例句：

• He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
• Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。

7 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

8 solaced   

v.安慰，慰藉( solace的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The unhappy man solaced himself with whisky. 那忧伤的人以威士忌酒浇愁。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was distracted with grief and refused to be solaced. 她悲痛得精神恍惚，怎麽安慰也没用。 来自辞典例句

9 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

11 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

12 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

13 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

14 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

15 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

16 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

17 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

18 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

19 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

21 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

22 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。